EY Data Challenge: PE Investment Opportunity: ITESO Acquisition

Note: To illustrate ITESO’s profile, I selected graphs from arbitrary academic cycles for this report. I created functions that plot visualizations for each academic cycle, which can be used in a Jupyter Notebook. This HTML report is for demonstration purposes only.

import pandas as pd

from process_data.load_data_sets import (high_school_1920, under_grad_1920, grad_1920,
                                            high_school_2021, under_grad_2021, grad_2021,
                                            high_school_2122, under_grad_2122, grad_2122,
                                            high_school_2223, under_grad_2223, grad_2223)

from school_graphs import high_school_graphs as hsg, under_grad_graphs as ugg, grad_graphs as gg
from competitors_graphs import cgraphs as cg

iteso_high_school_1920 = high_school_1920.loc[high_school_1920.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_high_school_2021 = high_school_2021.loc[high_school_2021.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_high_school_2122 = high_school_2122.loc[high_school_2122.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_high_school_2223 = high_school_2223.loc[high_school_2223.Institucion == 'ITESO']

iteso_under_grad_1920 = under_grad_1920.loc[under_grad_1920.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_under_grad_2021 = under_grad_2021.loc[under_grad_2021.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_under_grad_2122 = under_grad_2122.loc[under_grad_2122.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_under_grad_2223 = under_grad_2223.loc[under_grad_2223.Institucion == 'ITESO']

iteso_grad_1920 = grad_1920.loc[grad_1920.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_grad_2021 = grad_2021.loc[grad_2021.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_grad_2122 = grad_2122.loc[grad_2122.Institucion == 'ITESO']
iteso_grad_2223 = grad_2223.loc[grad_2223.Institucion == 'ITESO']

jal_high_school_1920 = high_school_1920.loc[high_school_1920.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_high_school_2021 = high_school_2021.loc[high_school_2021.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_high_school_2122 = high_school_2122.loc[high_school_2122.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_high_school_2223 = high_school_2223.loc[high_school_2223.Estado == 'JALISCO']

jal_under_grad_1920 = under_grad_1920.loc[under_grad_1920.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_under_grad_2021 = under_grad_2021.loc[under_grad_2021.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_under_grad_2122 = under_grad_2122.loc[under_grad_2122.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_under_grad_2223 = under_grad_2223.loc[under_grad_2223.Estado == 'JALISCO']

jal_grad_1920 = grad_1920.loc[grad_1920.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_grad_2021 = grad_2021.loc[grad_2021.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_grad_2122 = grad_2122.loc[grad_2122.Estado == 'JALISCO']
jal_grad_2223 = grad_2223.loc[grad_2223.Estado == 'JALISCO']

1. ITESO’s defining characteristics

A Private Equity (PE) fund is exploring the acquisition of an education asset in Mexico. The fund has received a confidential information memorandum outlining an opportunity to purchase the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO), a higher education institution based in Guadalajara, Mexico. The proposal involves acquiring ITESO in its entirety, including its Undergraduate and Graduate Schools, as well as its High School divisions. To support its investment decision, the PE firm seeks to evaluate key aspects of both the Mexican education industry and the target institution. The analysis will focus on the following

High School

I extracted a subset of the original DataFrame by selecting only the columns that highlight the school’s core attributes.

Providing a concise overview of its key characteristics

hsg.get_profile_df(iteso_high_school_2122)

	Institucion	Escuela	Estado	Municipio	Localidad	Control	Duracion_anios	Modalidad
7410	ITESO	PREPARATORIA ITESO	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	PRIVADO	0	ESCOLARIZADA

This stacked bar chart illustrates the distribution of male and female enrollments over time. Although the overall enrollment remained relatively stable initially, there is a slight drop following the onset of the pandemic—likely reflecting its disruptive impact. Despite the decrease, the ratio of men to women remains fairly balanced, suggesting a similar effect on both groups.

hsg.get_newly_enrolled([iteso_high_school_1920,iteso_high_school_2021, 
                        iteso_high_school_2122,iteso_high_school_2223])

This stacked bar chart breaks down the total cost of attendance into two categories: a registration fee of 1,000 MXN and a tuition fee of 9,000 MXN.

hsg.get_cycle_cost_graph(iteso_high_school_1920, iteso_high_school_2021)

As an additional key indicator, I included a map to better understand the national flow of students and gauge the institution’s position in the market. This visualization shows that most students originate from the state of Jalisco, indicating that local competition should be prioritized and strategies should focus on capturing and retaining the local market.

hsg.get_newly_enrolled_map(iteso_high_school_2122, "2021-2022")

Under Graduate School

I extracted a subset of the original DataFrame by selecting only the columns that highlight the school’s core attributes.

Providing a concise overview of its key characteristics

ugg.get_profile_df(iteso_under_grad_2223).head()

	Institucion	Escuela	Estado	Municipio	Localidad	Direccion	Control	Nivel	Subnivel	Carrera	Modalidad
3564	ITESO	DEPARTAMENTO DE PSICOLOGIA EDUCACION Y SALUD	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	LICENCIATURA EN CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN	ESCOLARIZADA
3565	ITESO	DEPARTAMENTO DE PSICOLOGIA EDUCACION Y SALUD	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	LICENCIATURA EN PSICOLOGÍA	ESCOLARIZADA
3566	ITESO	DEPARTAMENTO DE PSICOLOGIA EDUCACION Y SALUD	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	LICENCIATURA EN NUTRICIÓN Y CIENCIAS DE LOS AL...	ESCOLARIZADA
12711	ITESO	DEPTO DE ESTUDIOS SOCIO CULTURALES	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	LICENCIATURA EN GESTIÓN CULTURAL	ESCOLARIZADA
12712	ITESO	DEPTO DE ESTUDIOS SOCIO CULTURALES	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	LICENCIATURA EN ARTE Y CREACIÓN	ESCOLARIZADA

This bar chart breaks down admission numbers by gender for each academic department. Some departments, such as the Department of Economics, Administration, and Marketing and the Department of Habitat and Urban Development, show relatively balanced enrollments between men and women. However, others display notable gender gaps. For example, the Department of Psychology, Education, and Health has significantly more female students (112) than male students (12), whereas the Department of Mathematics and Physics, along with the Department of Electronics, Systems, and Informatics, enroll more men than women.

ugg.newly_enrolled_graph(iteso_under_grad_2122,"2021-2022")

This bar chart displays the average total cost for each faculty, with an overall mean of MXN 180,683. Among the programs, Department od technological and industrial processes stands out as the most expensive option, while the Department of Philosophy and humanities is the least costly.

ugg.get_faculty_cost_graph(iteso_under_grad_1920,"2019-2020")

As an additional key indicator, I included a map to better understand the national flow of students and gauge the institution’s position in the market. This visualization shows that most students originate from the state of Jalisco, indicating that local competition should be prioritized and strategies should focus on capturing and retaining the local market.

cycle = "2022-2023"
ugg.get_newly_enrolled_map(iteso_under_grad_2223, cycle)

Graduate School

I extracted a subset of the original DataFrame by selecting only the columns that highlight the school’s core attributes.

Providing a concise overview of its key characteristics

gg.get_profile_df(iteso_grad_1920).head()

	Institucion	Escuela	Estado	Municipio	Localidad	Direccion	Control	Nivel	Subnivel	Carrera	Modalidad
829	ITESO	DEPARTAMENTO DE PSICOLOGIA EDUCACION Y SALUD	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	MAESTRÍA EN EDUCACIÓN Y GESTIÓN DEL CONOCIMIENTO	MIXTA
830	ITESO	DEPARTAMENTO DE PSICOLOGIA EDUCACION Y SALUD	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	MAESTRÍA EN DESARROLLO HUMANO	ESCOLARIZADA
831	ITESO	DEPARTAMENTO DE PSICOLOGIA EDUCACION Y SALUD	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	MAESTRÍA EN PSICOTERAPIA	ESCOLARIZADA
832	ITESO	DEPARTAMENTO DE PSICOLOGIA EDUCACION Y SALUD	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	MAESTRÍA EN GESTIÓN DIRECTIVA DE INSTITUCIONES...	MIXTA
833	ITESO	DEPARTAMENTO DE PSICOLOGIA EDUCACION Y SALUD	JALISCO	SAN PEDRO TLAQUEPAQUE	TLAQUEPAQUE	CALLE PERIFÉRICO SUR MANUEL GOMEZ MORIN	PRIVADO	SUPERIOR	LICENCIATURA Y POSGRADO	DOCTORADO INTERINSTITUCIONAL EN EDUCACIÓN	ESCOLARIZADA

This stacked bar chart shows graduate enrollment by gender across each academic department. Overall, the Department of Processes, Technological, and Industrial Operations (140 men, 103 women) reports the highest enrollment numbers. Notably, the Department of Mathematics and Physics is the only one where women (28) outnumber men (20), while the Department of Philosophy and Humanities is exclusively male (5 men, 0 women). The remaining departments exhibit varying gender distributions, illustrating distinct enrollment patterns at the graduate level.

gg.newly_enrolled_graph(iteso_grad_1920, "2022-2023")

This bar chart displays the average total cost for each faculty, with an overall mean of MXN 136,378. Among the programs, Department of Socio-Cultural Studies stands out as the most expensive option, while the Department of Economics, administration, and marketing is the least costly.

gg.get_faculty_cost_graph(iteso_grad_1920, "2022-2023")

As an additional key indicator, I included a map to better understand the national flow of students and gauge the institution’s position in the market. This visualization shows that most students originate from the state of Jalisco, indicating that local competition should be prioritized and strategies should focus on capturing and retaining the local market.

gg.get_newly_enrolled_map(iteso_grad_1920, "2022-2023")

2. ITESO’s Performance

High School

I created a graph to illustrate the trend in new student enrollments for ITESO High School across different academic cycles. The data shows that in the 2019-2020 cycle, 47 students enrolled, which corresponded to a pilot program conducted prior to the school’s official launch. In the 2020-2021 cycle, there were no enrollments because ITESO High School officially opened in 2021. Following the official opening, enrollments increased significantly, with 192 students in the 2021-2022 cycle and 394 in the 2022-2023 cycle.

hsg.get_historical_admission([iteso_high_school_1920,iteso_high_school_2021, 
                        iteso_high_school_2122,iteso_high_school_2223])

I created a graph to illustrate the trend in new student enrollments for ITESO High School over several academic cycles. During the 2019-2020 cycle, 47 students enrolled as part of a pilot program prior to the official launch. In the 2020-2021 cycle, there were no enrollments because the school officially opened in 2021. Enrollment then increased significantly, with 192 new students in the 2021-2022 cycle and 394 in the 2022-2023 cycle. Using a simple linear regression model, I predicted that the next cycle will see approximately 596 enrollments, suggesting a continued upward trend. However, this prediction is quite unreliable due to the limited number of data points available.

hsg.get_historical_admission_prediction([iteso_high_school_1920,iteso_high_school_2021, 
                        iteso_high_school_2122,iteso_high_school_2223])

This graph compares key enrollment outcomes for ITESO High School across four academic cycles. In 2019-2020, during a pilot phase, the school recorded 22 graduates and 37 newly enrolled students. In 2020-2021, both figures were zero as the high school had not officially launched. With the official opening in 2021-2022, the school enrolled 192 new students (with no graduates yet, as it was the inaugural cycle). In 2022-2023, the numbers improved significantly, with 177 graduates and 394 new enrollments, demonstrating a robust start and rapid growth following its official launch.

hsg.get_student_flow([iteso_high_school_1920,iteso_high_school_2021, 
                        iteso_high_school_2122,iteso_high_school_2223])

Under Graduate School

With this graph we can visualize the university’s new enrollment numbers over four academic cycles. In 2019-2020, there were 1,828 new enrollments. However, in 2020-2021, the numbers dropped to 1,539, a decline attributable to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the following cycles, enrollments began to recover with 1,671 in 2021-2022 and nearly returning to pre-pandemic levels with 1,827 in 2022-2023

ugg.get_historical_grow([iteso_under_grad_1920, iteso_under_grad_2021, iteso_under_grad_2122, iteso_under_grad_2223])

This graph illustrates the university’s new enrollment numbers over four academic cycles: 1,828 in 2019-2020, a drop to 1,539 in 2020-2021 due to COVID-19 disruptions, a partial recovery to 1,671 in 2021-2022, and nearly a return to pre-pandemic levels at 1,827 in 2022-2023. Using a simple linear regression model, I predicted that the next cycle would have approximately 1,967 new enrollments, suggesting an increasing trend. However, this prediction is quite unreliable due to the limited number of data points available.

ugg.get_historical_grow_prediction([iteso_under_grad_1920, iteso_under_grad_2021, 
                                    iteso_under_grad_2122, iteso_under_grad_2223])

This graph compares three key variables for ITESO Under Grad School across four academic cycles:

2019-2020: 1,559 graduates, 1,828 newly enrolled students, and 1,906 spots offered.

2020-2021: Graduates dropped to 1,496 and new enrollments to 1,539, while spots offered increased to 1,958. This cycle was clearly affected due the COVID - 19 Pandemic.

2021-2022: The figures showed a slight recovery with 1,610 graduates and 1,671 newly enrolled students, although spots offered decreased to 1,817.

2022-2023: Graduates further declined to 1,409, but new enrollments rebounded to 1,827, and spots offered reached a record 2,058.

Overall, the graph highlights dynamic trends in graduation, enrollment, and capacity planning at ITESO Under Grad School over time. Notably, it shows that enrollment is growing and recovering from the pandemic, a trend that will be discussed in more detail later in this report.

ugg.student_flow_graph([iteso_under_grad_1920, iteso_under_grad_2021, iteso_under_grad_2122, iteso_under_grad_2223])

Graduate School

This graph depicts the historical admissions in the graduate school over four academic cycles. In 2019-2020, there were 288 admitted students. Admissions then declined to 220 in 2020-2021 and further to 196 in 2021-2022, before rebounding slightly to 216 in 2022-2023. This visualization provides insight into the fluctuating trends in graduate school enrollment over time.

gg.get_historical_grow([iteso_grad_1920, iteso_grad_2021, iteso_grad_2122, iteso_grad_2223])

This graph depicts the historical admissions in the graduate school over four academic cycles. In 2019-2020, there were 288 admitted students. Admissions then declined to 220 in 2020-2021 and further to 196 in 2021-2022, before rebounding slightly to 216 in 2022-2023. A simple linear regression model predicted 206 admitted students for the next cycle, suggesting an slightly decreasing trend. However, this prediction is quite unreliable due to the limited number of data points available.

gg.get_historical_grow_prediction([iteso_grad_1920, iteso_grad_2021, 
                                    iteso_grad_2122, iteso_grad_2223])

This bar chart compares three key metrics for each academic cycle: total graduate students, newly enrolled students, and available spots—from 2019–2020 through 2022–2023. Overall, total graduate enrollment shows a downward trend, declining from 292 in 2019–2020 to 203 in 2022–2023. Newly enrolled students also decrease from 288 to 196 by 2021–2022, though they rise slightly to 216 in 2022–2023. Meanwhile, the number of spots offered decreases significantly over time, dropping from 408 in 2019–2020 to 247 in 2022–2023.

gg.student_flow_graph([iteso_grad_1920, iteso_grad_2021, iteso_grad_2122, iteso_grad_2223])

3. ITESO’s Competitive Landscape

I ran a query to group universities by tuition costs. From these results, ITESO emerged among the ten institutions with the highest tuition. Because universities in this top tier share a similar pricing strategy and target demographic, it makes sense to consider them as ITESO’s direct competitors. Focusing on these institutions allows for a more precise benchmark of ITESO’s market positioning and helps identify specific opportunities or challenges related to pricing, brand perception, and overall competitiveness within that high-end segment of the market

df_colegiatura = cg.get_cost_competitors(jal_under_grad_1920)
df_colegiatura

	Institucion	$ gasto promedio anual- colegiatura -ciclo 19 a 20
1	ACADEMIA DE MUSICA SOLFEGGIO	560425.000000
117	ITESO	180190.871795
116	ITESM CAMPUS GUADALAJARA	114743.333333
130	UNIVERSIDAD ANAHUAC	108451.000000
62	ESCUELA BANCARIA Y COMERCIAL, CAMPUS GUADALAJARA	103850.000000
156	UNIVERSIDAD PANAMERICANA CAMPUS GUADALAJARA	97603.913043
132	UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE GUADALAJARA	94804.861111
78	ESCUELA SUPERIOR DE ARQUITECTURA	93180.000000
142	UNIVERSIDAD DEL VALLE DE ATEMAJAC	78523.480000
140	UNIVERSIDAD DE TECNOLOGIAS AVANZADAS	73920.000000

I also created a treemap to compare student enrollment at ITESO against other universities in the state of Jalisco. The data indicates that ITESO ranks fourth in terms of student intake, reflecting a strong position in this regard. The university with the highest enrollment is the University of Guadalajara, accounting for 40% of total student intake, a figure significantly higher than the second place at 4.77%.

Although the University of Guadalajara is not among the top 10 most expensive universities, its substantial market share makes it a key competitor for ITESO in the local higher education landscape

cg.treemap_institutions(jal_under_grad_2122, "2021-2022")

To measure growth, I calculated the average increase in new enrollments per university over three academic cycles (2020–2021, 2021–2022, and 2022–2023), excluding the initial cycle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, I focused on how the number of new enrollments changed year-over-year and then averaged these growth ratios.

\[ \text{Growth Ratio}_1 = \frac{\text{New Enrollments}_{2021-2022}}{\text{New Enrollments}_{2020-2021}} \]

\[ \text{Growth Ratio}_2 = \frac{\text{New Enrollments}_{2022-2023}}{\text{New Enrollments}_{2021-2022}} \]

\[ \text{Average Growth} = \frac{\text{Growth Ratio}_1 + \text{Growth Ratio}_2}{2} \]

Based on this metric, ITESO ranks as the third-highest university in terms of average growth, highlighting its strong performance in attracting new students despite recent challenges.

cg.get_growth_graph(df_colegiatura, [jal_under_grad_2021, jal_under_grad_2122, jal_under_grad_2223])

General Conclusions

After cleaning the data, I executed a series of queries to better understand ITESO’s institutional context. However, this data alone didn’t provide a complete picture, so I compared ITESO against other competitors to gauge its market position in education. I included a map to analyze the national flow of students, which revealed that most students come from Jalisco. This insight suggests that local competition should be a priority and that strategies should focus on capturing and retaining the local market.

Based on this, I identified potential competitors by selecting institutions with a similar average tuition expense as ITESO, and I also compared it with schools experiencing high enrollment demand. Using various metrics, such as average growth rates and student enrollment capture. I found that ITESO is well positioned relative to its competitors.

From a business perspective, a strong investment is one that generates a solid return on investment and profit. Given ITESO’s leadership in the Jalisco educational market and its positive growth projections, the data indicate that it is not only a market leader but also an asset with the potential for stable and growing profitability. Therefore its buy could represent a strong commercial investment.

Note: To render this Jupyter notebook run this command in a Jupyter lab terminal

   quarto render DataChallengeEY.ipynb